Julie Fisher Cummings

Julie is a philanthropist leader who was born in Detroit and is dedicated to giving back to the communities where she has lived. Continued learning and service have been the hallmarks of her career. She recently returned to school and received a graduate degree in Social Policy from Columbia University in New York. Currently, she is teaching a graduate course on Child Policy at the University of Miami in Florida. She is dedicated to serving her community both local and national. Nationally, Julie is a Presidential appointee and board member of the Corporation for National and Community Service. She has served on numerous boards including Children's Hospital of Michigan, Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan, the United Way of Southeastern Michigan and most recently the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University As a native of Michigan, she assumed the mantel of leadership for a number of key organizations, among them: the Detroit Arts Commission; the Michigan Community Service Commission; and the Council of Michigan Foundations, a regional association of 400 grant making organizations, which Julie ultimately came to chair. Passionate about the advancing the field of philanthropy, she helped create programming and retreats for Family Philanthropy in her tenure on the board of the Council of Michigan Foundations. Most recently, she joined the board of the National Center for Family Philanthropy. For the last five years Julie has served as the managing trustee of her family's foundation, whose other members include her mother and four siblings. The Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation supports work that strengthens families and communities in need. In Detroit the Foundation concentrates its effort in the Jewish community and on early childhood development in the northwest Detroit neighborhood of Brightmoor. The Foundation is also committed to fostering AIDS awareness and to supporting the major cultural institutions on which the rebirth of this city depends.